


I fell into the Seine (but also into your arms)

by Hipsters_and_Starbucks



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien falls into the Seine, F/M, Marinette cares about him, Marinette is an excellent nurse, Pre-Relationship, Sick Fic, he's an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 14:11:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6010531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hipsters_and_Starbucks/pseuds/Hipsters_and_Starbucks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette didn't think that Chat Noir falling into the Seine and Adrien catching a cold could be related <br/>(Even if they did happen within 24 hours of each other)</p>
            </blockquote>





	I fell into the Seine (but also into your arms)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends I have arrived  
> So Miraculous Ladybug, pretty cool fandom, lots of sin...two things I'm all about when looking for a new obsession.  
> So I wrote a fanfic and I swear it started as a cute 1,500 word thing and now...well now its not.  
> Oh also, I am not French, I do not speak French, therefore I didn't include any french in my fic and I'm sorry if I messed up on Parisian geography or the French school system...I call artistic liberty...  
> I hope y'all like it and I'll see you at the end

School was finishing for the day; Marinette had spent the last hour in a state of limbo combined of panic and delight. In the final class of the day, History, their teacher had announced that the class would be split up into pairs and that each pair would have to present a topic for the class that Friday.  
Marinette had been hoping for Alya or maybe even Nino, but one by one they’d been paired off with other people, until it had been just her and _him_ left.

“So I guess that leaves Marinette and Adrien as the final couple.”

Marinette had squeaked and let out a sigh of, “Oh no.” Before she’d realised that Adrien had turned around in his seat to look at her. Her face had turned cherry red and Alya and Nino’s stifled laughs hadn’t helped her at all.

She resolved that she would at least attempt to speak to Adrien at the end of class, but when the bell rang, he’d taken off like a shot.

Now Marinette found herself hurriedly walking through the corridors, desperately scanning the crowds until at the end of the hallway, she spotted his blonde hair.

Her heartbeat sped up, her palms had begun to sweat, but Marinette squared her shoulders and walked over to Adrien as though she was about to enter a gladiator fight.

"Um," she started and mentally kicked herself for sounding so hesitant.

“Oh hey Marinette,” Adrien said, smiling at her, “It’s pretty cool that we’re partners on this history project, isn’t it?”

“Ye-yeah,” Marinette managed to stutter out, “Um, I was going to ask when you’re free to d-do it.”

“I can’t make tonight, how about tomorrow after school?” Adrien asked her, smiling.

“Yeah that sounds great, I can’t to see you!” Marinette said, a split second later she realised the implications of her words, “Not that I can’t wait to see you, I mean I can always wait to see you.” She flailed a bit, and noticed that Adrien was holding back laughter, “I just mean, I really like history.” Marinette finished lamely.

“Well I guess I should be off, photo shoots wait for no one,” Adrien said and turned to walk away, “See you tomorrow!” he called back over his shoulder.

“See you…” Marinette said quietly. As soon as he was out of sight, she slid down the wall and put her head in her hands. How did she manage to mess up every interaction they had?

“Girl, you really fall to pieces around him.” Tikki commented, making one of her rare daytime appearances.

“Thank you Tikki.” Marinette bit back, but Tikki’s words rang true and they both knew it. Luckily, Monday night meant patrolling Paris with Chat Noir, if anything could calm her down, Marinette knew it would be that.

* * *

Arriving earlier than usual, Marinette used her final few moments of solitude for the night to plan what she and Adrien could do their project on; personally, Marinette wanted to do it on a period of history which had really cool clothing, but she doubted that Adrien would want to do the same.

The air stirred, a light breeze made Marinette’s hair lift slightly and turning to her left she saw the moonbeams illuminating her partner in crime solving.

"Chat Noir, I was beginning to worry that you wouldn't be coming." She smiled at her, falling into their old banter as easily as she walked.

"Sorry, my lady. I got waylaid." He grinned at her; Marinette took a few seconds to size him up.  
As usual he was wearing his black leather, mask, ears and tail firmly in place. His blonde hair was tousled as usual too and not for the first time Marinette’s heart skipped a beat at his resemblance to a certain blonde boy in her class.

"Well where shall we start tonight?" Marinette asked Chat Noir, hoping to distract him from her momentary lapse in attention.

"I hear the Seine is lovely this time of year." Chat replied.

They strolled casually along the rooftops which were parallel with the Seine. Marinette’s eyes were constantly scanning the darkness, praying that no akuma would strike that night. Every so often, when she looked over at her partner, she would meet him bright green eyes, but his gaze would always slide off of her quickly.

Half an hour into the patrol and Marinette was bored; she could sense that Chat was too, so she decided to add a competitive element to their patrolling.

"First one to Notré-Dame wins bragging rights for a week!" She called back to him as she sped off, her rope carrying her off into the night.

Truthfully Marinette loved using her rope to get places, often she found herself wishing that she could use it even when she was just Marinette. Using her rope made her feel like she was flying and she moved faster than she had ever thought was possible.

That night she was spurred on and it wasn’t long before she reached the cathedral. Turning to look behind her, she saw that Chat was still several rooftops away.

"You lose Chat!" She laughed delightedly and stood on top of the cathedral, her hair blowing behind her in the soft breeze.

Watching in almost slow motion, Marinette saw Chat misjudge a jump and completely overshoot a rooftop. His mouth widened in what would have been a comical manner, as he plunged down into the void below.

"Chat!" she screamed. Throwing herself from the top of the cathedral, she reached the bank of the Seine just as he was pulling himself out, sopping wet and shaking.

He sat down hard on the bank; Marinette was at his side within seconds.

"Oh my god Chat!" She cried and placed her hands on his cheeks, "Are you ok?" She asked as he struggled to get a hold of his shivering.

"I'm g-great, you sh-should know how much cats love wat-ter." He managed to stutter out, Marinette let out a reserved laugh. He seemed alright, but she was still concerned.

"Come on; let me buy you something to warm you up." She said, wrapping one arm around his waist and using the other to manoeuvre them off of the bank of the Seine. Her heart was still racing, but luckily she’d managed to stop her own shaking, so that she only had Chat’s to contend with.

Marinette carried him off to a café nearby, the owners of which were delighted to provide hot chocolate and towels, free of charge, to the glorious crime fighting duo of the city of Paris.

Even though Chat was dry within minutes, the cold seemed to have permeated through his skin and the second they stepped back outside of the café, he began to shiver again.

"You should probably get yourself home." Marinette said to him, watching him as he tried to mask his shivers.

"It has been a long night and I feel like I should change." Chat said, and although he smiled, it didn’t reach his eyes.

"Yes, well we wouldn't want you getting sick now, would we." She said and smiled faintly.

"Please, as if the Chat Noir could get sick!" he exclaimed. At his words, both of their miraculous’ started to beep, a warning to them.

"Famous last words," Marinette said and giggled quietly when he gave her an offended look, "Goodnight Kitty, try not to fall in anymore rivers on your way home."

With that she was gone, off into the inky darkness which enveloped her; her mind was still replaying the image of him falling into the darkness, but Marinette had to trust that Chat could take care of himself, or she’d go mad.

* * *

Marinette worried and planned a lot; she worried about everything under the sun from her latest designs to whether her crime fighting activities were really making a difference to the lives of the citizens of Paris. She also liked to be prepared for most situations, going so far as to have an umbrella, a scarf and a pair of gloves permanently stashed in her school bag.

As she stepped out into the bright morning sun on her way to school, her mind was occupied with memories of the previous night. She was worried about Chat; Marinette had to pause briefly on her walk to digest that information. The image of his face contorting in panic as he fell flashed across her mind’s eye, as did his inability to stop shivering, even once they’d had their hot chocolate. She hoped that he wouldn’t get too ill, even though he’d been convinced that he wouldn’t.

The sun disappeared behind a cloud as Marinette walked down the grey stone steps into the Metro, the smell of old urine and mould hit her as she descended and Marinette wrinkled her nose. She’d been promising herself for at least a year now that she’d cycle to school instead of getting the Metro, but until she could afford a bike; this would have to make do.

Marinette had a few minutes to wait for the next train, so she decided to take her history book out of her bag, and as she did so, she spotted, Tikki, asleep. Marinette smiled down at her ladybug and closed her bag, careful not to jostle her awake.

The train’s arrival was announced by the whooshing of air and a loud screeching on the train tracks. The usual crowd of people surged forward, carrying Marinette with them; she smiled to herself as she allowed herself to be swept onto the train and then into a seat.

Her commute to school only took fifteen minutes, so Marinette barely had enough time to read even one chapter in her textbook. Most mornings Marinette participated in her favourite activity on the metro, people watching; or rather, fashion watching. She loved to see how people had combined their clothes and what accessories they were using; often she drew inspiration from the commuting crowds for her own designs.

The Metro shuddered to a halt at Marinette’s stop, she stood was one of the few to exit at the station; many commuters were heading into the center of Paris.

* * *

Walking the final few yards before she reached school, Marinette breathed in the fresh air and closed her eyes, if only to savour the freedom until lunch. With her eyes closed, she couldn’t see where she was going and walked straight into someone.

The someone was very solid and made a hoarse grunting sound as Marinette collided with them. She squeaked and once she had opened her eyes, turned bright red.

She had walked straight into Adrien Agreste!

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Marinette cried out and backed up a few paces, looking at the floor in embarrassment.

“Um, that’s alright.” Adrien’s voice came out slightly hoarse and he cleared his throat a few times. Marinette looked up at him, she took in his slightly paler than usual complexion, his pink nose and the way he was rubbing his throat with his hand.

“Are you-?” Marinette started to ask, but the bell rang, cutting off her query about his health.

“I’m fine.” Adrien said shortly as they made their way to class, “Still on for tonight?”

“Yes, of course.” Marinette replied, looking worriedly at him. He shot her a small smile, which did little to placate her concerns.

They walked through the door to the classroom together, Marinette briefly saw Adrien’s smile fall as they entered the room, before it was firmly plastered back in place.

She sat down behind him and stared hard at his head until Alya poked her in the side.

“Was that you and Adrien I saw entering together?” she asked Marinette with a coy smile. Marinette blushed and looked down at her hands.

“No, I mean yes. I mean, it’s not like that.” She said, facing growing hotter with every word.

“What is it like then?” Alya asked.

“You know, he just thinks of me as a friend.” Marinette said quietly, she was all too aware of Adrien sitting in the seat directly in front of her.

“Oh Mari,” Alya sighed, and taking one of her hands said, “Well at least you guys are partners for this history assignment, maybe spending some time together, just the two of you will help.”

Marinette sighed and put her head in her hands, resigning herself to another boring day of classes.

* * *

Groaning as she left the stuffy classroom for lunch, Marinette barely had the energy to drag herself downstairs with Alya.

“Wow that morning really dragged, didn’t it?” Alya commented, as they walked down the stairs lethargically.

“Maths and physics always drag.” Complained Rose.

“So what’s everyone doing for lunch?” Marinette asked, mostly looking at Alya, recently she’d been going off campus to have lunch dates with Nino; they were still in the happy, honeymoon stage of their fledgling relationship.

“I’m going with Nino, sorry Mari.” Alya said apologetically, they both turned round to see the boy in question. He seemed like he was in a heated discussion with Adrien.

“We should go see what’s going on.” Alya said and grabbed Marinette’s sleeve, despite her protests, and dragged her over to the two boys.

As they got closer, they heard snatches of their conversation.

“Don’t be stupid-“

“I’m not being stupid!”

“What’s going on boys?” Alya asked, sidling up to Nino with a smirk on her face and kissing him on the cheek, Marinette offered Adrien a smile. He could barely return it, he seemed so focused on remaining upright that he could barely focus on anything else.

“Adrien is being ridiculous!” Nino exclaimed, waving his hands in Adrien’s general direction.

“I am not!” Adrien responded, but as he finished, he started coughing harshly.

Alya looked at him helplessly, Nino rolled his eyes and Marinette offered him a bottle of water.

“Thanks.” Adrien said hoarsely once his coughing fit was over, drank from the bottle and then tried to give it back to Marinette.

“No that’s alright, you keep it.” She said.

“See, this idiot-“ Adrien made a small noise of protest, “Is sick, but he refuses to admit it or go home!”

“I’m not sick.” Adrien said weakly once Nino had finished. Three looks of disbelief met his words.

“What should we do?” Alya asked Nino, “I promised my parents that we’d be home in time to help prepare lunch.”

“You go on ahead,” Nino said, “I can take him home and make it in time for lunch.”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” Adrien snapped, and then he sneezed twice in a row.

“Bless you.” Alya responded without taking her eyes from Nino’s face.

“Guys, it’s fine,” Marinette said unthinkingly. She had realised the perfect solution, even if her brain was screaming at her to stop talking, “I can take Adrien home, you guys can go and eat lunch at Alya’s.”

Alya and Nino’s face’s had twin expressions of gratitude and disbelief.

“Really Mari? You don’t mind?” Alya asked her, reaching over to grasp her hands.

“It’s fine,” Marinette repeated, “It’s on my way home anyway.” That was a small lie, technically it was ten minutes outside of her usual daily route; the look on Alya’s face showed that she knew this to be a lie, but she wasn’t going to call Marinette out on it.

“Thank you Marinette!” Nino said and dragging Alya away, he turned and called back to Adrian saying, “Hope you feel better soon!”

Marinette watched her best friend and Nino leave the cafeteria and then she turned her attention back to Adrien who had sat down on the nearest sofa as soon as Nino was out of sight.

He looked slightly worse than he had that morning; a pale pink flush had been added to his rather pitiful image.

“How are you feeling?” Marinette asked, kneeling down next to him so that she could look into his eyes.

“I’m fine; I don’t know why Nino was making such a fuss over nothing.” Adrien said. Marinette could clearly see that he wasn’t fine, but she decided not to say anything about it.

“So are you ready to go?” she asked him, standing back up and readjusting her shoulder strap on her pink schoolbag. Adrien stood up, but he staggered a few steps and Marinette had to grab hold of his left arm to keep him upright; he righted himself after a few seconds.

Choosing not to mention his momentary loss of balance, she led the way out to reception and signed them both out for lunch before they headed across the grounds and out onto the street.

Pausing at the entrance to their school, Marinette looked up at Adrien, since they’d stepped outside, he’d started to shiver. This brought back memories of the previous night; Marinette had to shake her head to dispel images of Chat Noir looking very similar to how Adrien was looking now.

“Which way?” she asked him after it was clear that he wasn’t going to be leading her back to his.

“What?” he mumbled, arms crossed over his body tightly, trying to contain his shivers.

“Which way to your house?” Marinette repeated, looking at Adrien with concern in her blue eyes.

“Oh, sorry, left here.” He seemed to regain some awareness of his surroundings; his already pink cheeks flushed a darker shade of crimson. Marinette had to dig her fingers into her palm to stop herself from doing something stupid like putting her hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever or holding his hand.

* * *

Marinette led the way down the streets of Paris, stopping every now and then to ask for directions to Adrien’s house. She was so focused on reciting the periodic table of elements, to stop herself from thinking too much about the fact that she was alone with Adrien, that she barely noticed his physical discomfort growing. Every few steps she heard him cough, sniffle or sneeze, but none of this registered with her.

It was only when they reached an intersection and Marinette was forced to stop and wait for the traffic lights, that she looked at Adrien again. She almost had to cover her mouth to stifle a gasp. She had never seen him in a worse state; he was shivering and yet sweating profusely, his nose was red and he kept clearing his throat.

“Adrien?” she asked him tentatively.

“I’m fine.” He said shortly and then began to cross the road when the lights turned green.

“No you’re not,” Marinette said shortly when she caught up with him on the other side of the road, “Here.”

Out from her bag she pulled a grey knitted scarf and offered it to him. Adrien looked at it in confusion and Marinette sighed impatiently. She stood of her tiptoes and wrapped the scarf around his neck; she didn’t realise how close they were until she looked up and saw Adrien’s normally sparkling emerald eyes.

Marinette pulled away from Adrien quickly, her entire face flushing a bright ruby red and her heart was pounding. The moment was fleeting though, as Adrien quickly extracted himself and sneezed violently three times in a row.

An unusual expression of distress graced his features as he patted down his pockets, looking for something.

“What are you looking for?” Marinette asked him, he looked at her and then blushed slightly.

“Of all the days to forget it,” he sighed sadly, “I’ve left my handkerchief at home.”

Marinette choked back a laugh.

“You have a handkerchief?” she said, trying her hardest not to laugh.

“Yes I do.” Adrien looked almost offended, but even that wasn’t enough to stop Marinette from laughing. Adrien glared at her weakly and then walked off down the road, leaving Marinette hurrying behind him in his wake.

* * *

They walked for a little while longer until Marinette spotted a drugstore.

“Wait here, I’ll be back in a second.” She told Adrien, safely depositing him on a bench.

The double doors of the drugstore slid open for her and she breathed freely once more; the drugstore provided a safe haven, even if it was just for a few minutes. The florescent lights and bad pop music were familiar and comforting to her, unlike the dazed boy she was escorting home.

Walking over to the medicine section of the store, she picked up tissues with lotion, lemon and honey cough drops and another bottle of water. She’d noticed that Adrien had finished the one she’d given him long ago and his coughs were increasing in frequency.

Marinette paid absentmindedly, humming the catchy pop song which was playing over the shop’s speakers. It was familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.

Upon exiting the shop, Marinette saw that Adrien is slumped on the bench, his head in his hands and a truly dejected sniffling sound is coming from his direction. She sighed when she saw him, but an unexpected is the balloon of affection which blossomed in her chest when she saw him so helpless.

“I got you some stuff.” She said quietly as she sat down next to him on the bench.

He turned his head and squinted at her, before quickly turning away to sneeze.

“Here, I know that they’re no handkerchief, but they should do until you get home.” She said and offered him the packet of tissues; he took them quickly and blew his nose loudly.

“Thanks.” Adrien said, once he was done.

“I also got you these,” Marinette said, handing him the box of cough drops.

He squinted at the label and then said something so quietly that Marinette had to lean forward to catch it.

“What flavour are these?” Adrien asked. Marinette stared at him in shock, her mind instantly jumping to the worst conclusions, what if this was some new mutant form of disease which made people go blind? What if Adrien was allergic to tissues and he was having an allergic reaction in the form of him going blind? What if-

“I, um, when I get tired, I need glasses to read,” Adrien’s quiet, hesitant voice cut through Marinette’s thoughts like a steak knife.

“What?” she said, so shocked that her voice went up a few pitches.

“Yeah, I need glasses; I don’t use them a lot though.” Adrien looked up at her and smiled, despite his terrible state, Marinette couldn’t help but smile back at him.

“They’re honey and lemon.” Marinette said after a few beats of silence.

“What?” Adrien asked her, looking confused.

“They cough drops; you asked what flavour they are. They’re honey and lemon.”

“Oh.” He looked down at the packet and popped one out and stuck it straight in his mouth.

They sat there for a few more minutes until Marinette decided that they should carry on their journey if she ever wanted to get Adrien home.

* * *

Great stone gates met them as they rounded onto the deserted road on which Adrien’s estate was situated. Marinette’s mouth dropped open, despite having been there before.

They reached the gates after a few minutes of slow walking, Marinette had noticed that Adrien’s energy had really began to wane in the latter half of their trip.

When they reached the gates, Adrien punched in a six digit code with one hand, whilst muffling a cough with the other.

The gates slowly swung open and Marinette turned to Adrien, “I guess this is where I leave you.” She said.

“Or you could-“ Adrien started, but then he broke off, a blush colouring his entire face and his eyes sliding off to the side.

“I could what?” Marinette asked him curiously.

“Nothing, never mind,” He said shortly, before walking through the gates, “Thank you Marinette.”

Marinette watched his figure walked shakily a few steps, before his knees gave way and he folded in half.

She was at his side in a flash and only just managed to keep him from hitting his head on the gravel.

“Adrien?!” she cried out, panic laced in her voice.

“I’m fine.” He murmured from where they had sunk to the ground.

Adrien’s head was in her lap, Marinette suddenly noticed; her cheeks burned and she tried not to think of how many times she’d previously dreamt of being in this situation.

After a few minutes Adrien seemed to regain totally consciousness and Marinette felt that it was safe to let him up again.

“I guess you’ll be going now then.” He said. Marinette looked at him, the tragic figure he cut, shivering in her scarf, with tissues overflowing from all of his pockets, and made the executive decision to stay.

“I think I’ll make sure that you get in alright, if that’s ok with you.” She’d barely finished speaking before he cut her off with an enthusiastic, “Yes!”

They walked slowly down the driveway together, Adrien’s greatly reduced pace gave Marinette a chance to really take in the grounds. As far as her she could see, there were beautiful bushes, which she assumed would be covered in flowers in the summer; for a second she imagined what it must be like to live in such an exquisite place.

At the end of the driveway there was a flight of steps which lead up to a front door, framed with ivy. The house which towered above the grounds had been built in a way which was meant to imitate an old French Chateau, and it was beautiful.

“So this is my house.” Adrien said into the silence, his voice breaking the spell Marinette had temporarily been under.

“Wow.” Marinette breathed, she longed to come back and paint it sometime.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Adrien said, Marinette thought she detected a hint of bitterness in his voice; however she let it slide as he was opening the door and stepping inside.

The inside was, if possible, even more spectacular than the outside. Two flights of white marble stairs swept to the upper floors on the left and right side of the foyer.

She had been so enraptured by the house, that she didn’t notice that Adrien was no longer by her side, until she heard him coughing on the stairs.

Marinette rushed up the right side of stairs after him, only pausing momentarily to gape at the crystal chandelier which hung from the ceiling and the intricate artwork on the ceiling.

“Adrien, your house is incredible.” Marinette sighed in awe as they walked down the hallway.

“Incredibly lonely more like.” Adrien muttered, she shot him a look. Marinette had noticed the distinct lack of people around and the fact that Adrien hadn’t called out a greeting to anyone when he had initially entered.

They had stopped outside of a white doorway and Adrien shifted on the spot uneasily and sniffed a few more times.

“This is my room.” He said, and placed his hand on the doorknob.

“Oh, well I should probably be going.” Marinette said quickly and turned to leave, before she remembered something and turned back, “I’ll be back after class; we still need to work on our history project."

Adrien’s face fell, but he nodded.

“Get some sleep, I’ll be back later.” Marinette said kindly, and she watched him go into his room.

“You’ll be back to do the project with him?” Tikki questioned Marinette as her footsteps echoed around the cavernous foyer as she walked back down the stairs.

“Yes of course! I wouldn’t just leave him to fend for himself!” she responded.

“Ah ok, so ‘doing the project’,” Tikki said, “Got it.” She winked up at Marinette.

* * *

As promised, after school was done for the day, Marinette headed back to Adrien’s house.

This time the walk took her considerably less time, because she didn’t have an ill Adrien to escort. Her mind turned back to Adrien, usually he wasn’t far from her thoughts, but today especially Marinette had found it nigh impossible to think of anything but him.

What ifs swirled round her head, what if he’d taken a sudden turn for the worst while she’d been gone, maybe she should have stayed with him.

Marinette shook herself from her thoughts, she couldn’t think about that, so instead she focused on the scenery.

Paris was autumn was beautiful as usual, the trees that lined the streets were turning beautiful shades of gold and red; there was a chill in the air, so much so that Marinette saw her breath misting in front of her every time she breathed out.

Just as the sky started to turn pink and gold, Marinette reached Adrien’s house, reaching out for the buzzer on the gates she pushed it and waited. She waited for several minutes before realising that Adrien was probably the only person at home and he was (hopefully) asleep.

Panicking Marinette spun in a circle, maybe if she turned into Ladybug she could scale the wall.

“Tikki, transform me!” she called out.

Tikki appeared from her handbag and turned her from Marinette into Ladybug. As Ladybug, Marinette surmounted the wall quickly and was soon in the gardens of the Agreste Mansion once more.

She hurried down the driveway, through the front door and up the stairs, her feet making no sound and the only light coming in through the huge French windows from the sun’s final rays of the day.

Once she was upstairs, Marinette tried to remember which door was the one to Adrien’s room; the first one she tried led to a dark bedroom. The room was obviously unused as a fine layer of dust was disturbed when Marinette took a step inside.

The next room along was Adrien’s, Marinette knew as soon as she’d opened the door gently. Soft sounds of sleeping permeated the air and the curtains were drawn, casting an eerie red glow over the whole room.

She crept over to his bed and looked down on the sleeping form of Adrien Agreste. Even in sleep Marinette could see that he was in discomfort, his forehead was screwed up, his eyes tightly shut and he was sweating profusely.

Marinette reached out her hand to shake him awake, but paused, her hand hovering over his shoulder. Would he find it weird that she’d just turned up at his house unexpectedly?

The decision was taken from her as Adrien rolled over and made a whimpering sound; something in Marinette’s gut wrenched painfully and she shook his shoulder lightly.

“Adrien, Adrien wake up.”

Slowly he opened his eyes, they were glazed and the usually bright emerald colour was dull. Adrien looked at her in confusion for a few seconds before opening his mouth, “Ladybug?”

What.

Marinette’s mind spun, how could he have known?

Then she looked down at her hands. Her hands covered in a red and black spotted bodysuit.

“Shit.” She whispered.

Marinette ran out of the room and back into the dusty room next door; from there she made her way into the ensuite and flicked on the lights. The bathroom was certainly decadent and under more normal circumstances, Marinette would have stopped to admire it, but she hurried over to the giant mirror which hung above the sink.

The mirror was a little dusty and she had to push some cobwebs aside, but she could see herself reflected just fine. Or rather, Ladybug’s reflection.

How could she have been so careless? What if Adrien put two and two together? What if he told everyone?

Marinette gripped both sides of the sink and stared at the reflection uncomprehendingly. What was she going to do?

Taking deep breaths in and out she came up with a plan of defense; first things first, she needed to detransform. Tapping her earring three times made the transformation wear off and Tikki fell into her hands.

“Mari, are you ok? You looked very pale.” Tikki asked in concern.

“Yeah I’m fine, just great.” Marinette responded, still staring at herself in the mirror. She decided that the best thing to do was to play dumb; maybe act like Adrien had imagined the whole thing in his feverish state. Nodding to herself, Marinette took one more big deep breath and then exited the bathroom, making sure to turn the lights back off.

She re-entered Adrien’s bedroom cautiously, hoping that he’d gone back to sleep, but of course luck wasn’t on her side for once.

“Who’s there?” he called out hoarsely, a cough punctuating his words.

“It’s me, Marinette.” She said softly, walking over to his bedside. Adrien looked up at her suspiciously and then over at the door.

“Are you alone?” he asked.

“Yes, I came straight after school, like I promised.” Marinette replied. Adrien looked like he was going to ask another question, so she did the first thing that popped into her mind.

Without thinking, Marinette leant over Adrien’s bed and placed her hand gently on his forehead. The effect on Adrien was instantaneous, he sighed and leaned back onto his pillows; Marinette nearly flinched at the heat coming from his forehead.

“You’re quite warm,” She said gently, he cracked one eye open and managed a half smile, “How do you feel?”

“Terrible.” He said, leaning away to cough harshly into the crook of his elbow.

“Well at least you’re not denying it anymore,” Marinette smiled and then turned her thoughts to making Adrien feel a little better, “Do you know where the thermometer is kept?”

“Yeah, door to your right is the master bathroom, should be in one of the cabinets there.”

Marinette went next door, found the opulent bathroom and opened several marble cabinets before she found the right one. Inside was paracetamol, cough drops and a thermometer. Balancing the goods on her arms, she made her way carefully back into Adrien’s room. Once she was in, she noticed that he’d turned his lamp on, and when she turned to look at him, Marinette swore her heart skipped a beat.

Adrien was sitting up in bed, adorably flushed, hair tousled and a pair of thick rimmed glasses on.

A squeak, which she later realised had come from her own mouth, and a clattering sound brought Marinette back to her senses and she realised that she’d dropped everything she’d been carrying on the floor. Adrien made a move to get up from his bed, but Marinette was on the floor before he could do so.

“No, just stay in bed, its fine.” Marinette said hurriedly as she scrabbled to pick the items.

Eventually Marinette headed over to the bed and handed Adrien the thermometer. She placed the cough drops and paracetamol on his bedside table and then grabbed the bottle of water, which she’d bought him earlier, from the floor.

With nothing to do but wait until the thermometer beeped, Marinette surveyed Adrien’s bedroom. It looked normal enough for a teenage boy, apart from the giant fish tank which took up half a wall and his desk which was set up with four different computers.

Walking over to the fish tank, Marinette watched a tropical fish swim around for a few seconds before she wandered over to Adrien’s bookshelf. She knew she shouldn’t really be going through his stuff like this, but she was curious to see what he liked to read.

On the bookshelf, nothing jumped out at her as being immediately attention grabbing. He had English, French and Cantonese versions of Harry Potter, several books on types of fish and butterflies and a few books on various medical related topics.

From across the room, the thermometer beeped and Marinette hurried back over to the bed. She took it from Adrien before he had a chance to read it out and held it up to the light.

“Thirty eight point five degrees.” Marinette said, looking back down at Adrien whose eyes had slid shut.

“I expected that.” He said weakly, the flush on his face had deepened to a cherry red; Marinette’s concern kept spiking because Adrien seemed to find it difficult to keep her in focus, even with his glasses on.

“Well at least you can take some paracetamol now.” Marinette popped two out of the packet and passed them to him, along with the bottle of water.

Adrien swallowed them easily and then shivered, pulling his blanket further up his body; he took off his glasses and placed them gently on his bedside table before closing his eyes.

Marinette hovered awkwardly by his bed, she wanted to stay with him but she couldn’t figure out how to help him get better and find a pretext for staying.

She pulled out her phone and googled ‘how to help someone with the flu’, the search results popped up instantly.

“Ok, so I’ve taken his temperature, given him painkillers, given him some water…” Marinette muttered more to herself than to Adrien.

“What was that?” he murmured back.

“Oh nothing, nothing!” she squeaked, but then changed her mind, “Actually I was just googling how else I could help you get better.”

“You’ve already done so much for me.” Adrien said tiredly.

“Yeah, but…” Marinette trailed off, her unspoken, _but I don’t want you to be alone_ , hung in the air, “Is there anything else I can do for you?” she asked instead.

“Could you, I mean, please…” Adrien started, the tips of his ears went pink and he looked away.

“Could I what?” Marinette asked warily, whilst she was half in love with the boy, she would draw the line at giving him a foot massage.

“No, it’s stupid. Forget it.” He said.

“Adrien, please. I want to help you.” She said softly.

“Would you mind,” Adrien couldn’t meet her eyes, “That is, I don’t want to be any trouble, bu do you think you could stroke my hair? Just until I fall asleep.”

Marinette’s jaw dropped open; never had she dared to dream of Adrien asking something so…personal of her.

“Yes, yes of course.” She stammered, trying not to seem too eager. Marinette sat on the bed next to Adrien and started stroking his hair, after a few minutes she slid down his bed until she was lying next to him.

Trying to synchronise her breathing with his, Marinette watched Adrien go through the stages of sleep, until he finally fell asleep. She would have got up then, but as he was falling asleep, Adrien had laid his head on her chest and now Marinette was firmly pinned against the bed.

Oh well, Marinette thought to herself, there are worse places to be. Somewhere in the distance she could hear an owl hooting and Tikki laughing softly at something, the quiet sounds and Adrien’s steady breathing lulled Marinette to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> mmm yes that was the fic  
> I hope you liked it, I know I should have been working on Southern Hospitality (which you could go check out now, or not...who cares...not me...) but I just had so manyy feelings about these dumb idiots  
> (Oh yeah also I love having my hair stroked, it literally sends me straight to sleep so that's why I wanted Marinette to do it for Adrien)  
> Also go check out my tumblr, its if-it-takes-a-war-for-us-to-meet (Bonus points and virtual cookies if you get the reference!) Idk I've been told I'm pretty cool but you should go check me out for yourself!  
> Well that's all for this time folks!


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